Saturday, November 4, 2017

Release Day Blitz: Reawaken by Christina Lee #Excerpt #Review #Giveaway




REAWAKEN
UNDER MY SKIN SERIES, BOOK 2
CHRISTINA LEE
M/M ROMANCE
RELEASE DATE: 11.02.17




Cover Designer: KANAXA



BLURB
Losing his adoring husband shattered Tristan Rogers world. For the past few years, he’s been going through the motions, running their dog grooming business while hiding the loneliness he feels down to his bones. When he witnesses an ugly breakup between a pretentious customer and his boyfriend, Tristan can’t help but intervene. Something about the unassuming younger man calls to him, and he can’t help wondering if he’s experienced some heartache of his own.
Life took a tragic turn for Jonas “West” Hollis as a teen, and he’s felt indebted to his overbearing lover ever since. Tristan’s kindness draws him from the start, but with his dreams finally in reach, West can’t risk getting close to someone else. Not now that he can live his life and stand on his own merit.
From innocent texts to companionable rides on Tristan’s boat, what starts as an unexpected friendship between the men sparks into undeniable attraction. Neither are ready for anything deeper than a couple of passionate nights wrapped in each other’s arms but their connection becomes too intense for either to ignore. If Tristan and West want to heal their broken hearts, they’ll need a considerable amount of trust and courage—not only in themselves but also each other.


Review

I am relatively new to the work of Christina Lee.  I’ve read some of her collaborations with Nyrae Dawn, but will admit that I hadn’t read any of her solo work until “The Sweetest Goodbye”, originally part of the “It Was Always You” anthology.  (By the way, that one is now available separate from the anthology).  “Regret”, the first book of the “Under My Skin” series is one of my favorites, so I was excited when “Reawakened” was announced.

The title is appropriate.  Tristian’s lost his husband three years previous.  Since then, he’s gone through the motions of living, but hasn’t really lived.  He runs his own dog grooming business, but then goes home to frozen dinners and mundane television.  He’s in a rut, until he helps out the boyfriend of one of his more arrogant clients, West.

West is in a rut too, only if a different sort.  He was taken in by Michael after a family tragedy, and a relationship developed soon thereafter.  But he too has never been actually able to live. 

Anyone who has read any of my reviews knows that I have a tendency to steer clear of discussing how “hot” I think a book is.  I prefer to focus more on the relationship building, the connections between characters.  To me, that emotional and psychological connection is much deeper than anything physical.

Christina takes her time in actually building a relationship between Tristian and West.  She doesn’t rely on physical chemistry to build the couple.  It’s there, just not at the forefront.  I appreciated that.  So much of M/M romance is built on the physicality first then the emotional.  This was a nice change of pace.  They develop a real friendship first, trading text messages and phone calls.  Tristian feel a certain amount of protectiveness toward West.  They are in similar places in their lives, albeit for entirely different reasons.  This helps them develop in equal footing.

I loved the slow burn of this.  The care that was taken in developing both characters as both individuals as well as a couple.  I’m always a little nervous when the second book to a series comes out and I absolutely loved the first one.  With “Reawakened”, I needn’t be.  It’s a beautiful story of learning how to live your life on your own terms, and I’ll gladly be back for the third book.




EXCERPT

“Promise you won’t let me drown?”
“If I did, I’d miss out on whatever meal you promised as payback,” he replied with a smirk. “And believe me, I’m all for that.”
A nervous laugh jumped from my throat, even though the idea of cooking for him—for anybody, really—thrilled me. I pulled the sticky orange life vest over my neck and fastened it, figuring I’d bob around at first and get used to the water.
After I jumped in, I stuck close to Tristan, still nervous that I’d somehow float away from him and feel abandoned in this giant body of water.
“You ready to try without the life vest?” he asked in a tentative voice.
My pulse pitched, but I still nodded. I knew he wouldn’t leave me stranded or let anything happen to me.
“We’ll just practice floating.”
Tugging me closer to the edge of the boat, he helped unsnap the vest. As he fished it over my shoulders, his gaze met mine. “It’s okay. I got you.”
He placed the vest on the platform, where my fingers were digging into the edge for dear life.
Tristan moved behind me, his hands winding around my waist, and I immediately felt goose bumps line my skin. Just like I did when I was lying in bed with him. His lips found my ear, and it made all the hair along my nape stand on end. “Breathe, West. It’s going to be okay.”




Mother, wife, reader, dreamer. Christina lives in the Midwest with her husband and son--her two favorite guys. She's addicted to lip balm, coffee, and kissing. Because everything is better with kissing.

She writes MM Contemporary as well as Adult and New Adult Romance. She believes in happily-ever-afters for all, so reading and writing romance for everybody under the rainbow helps quench her soul.



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8 comments:

  1. Loved Regret - can't wait to get into this one!

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  2. Congrats, Christina, and thanks for the good review, Michael. The cover looks great, and the story sounds intriguing. I liked The Deepest Blue. The set up did a good job, of well, setting up a good story.

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  3. Christina Lee is a new author to me. Thank you for the review, I become intrigued by the book now.

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  4. Great review! Congrats on a great read Christina. Reawakened is my fav so fat - loved it! Thought the cuddling scenes and swimming lessons were adorable. I hope we get to hear more about them in later books. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

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  5. I can wait to read this story. Older/younger stories really appeal to me!!!!

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  6. This author is still on my TBR list.

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